Arsenal: Mesut Ozil like a diamond to a starving village

Mesut Ozil has been shorting out at Arsenal recently and his approval ratings are plummeting. It’s obvious that he just isn’t what the club needs.

Arsenal has learned to play a very attractive brand of football under Arsene Wenger. It’s been their thing. They will sacrifice other parts of the game, the grittiness and toughness, in order to play more flowing, dazzling, passing-oriented play.

When you look at some of the most beautiful team goals out there, Arsenal is always right in the mix. When it goes right, it comes off magnificently.

In that formula, you will find no better than Mesut Ozil. He is an absolute magician. His style is centered on moments of utter brilliance, not sustained relevance. Same goes with that old Arsenal that valued the odd moment when every little thing went right to produce truly remarkable teamwork.

That’s what Ozil was brought in to facilitate. More beauty, less grunge.

But now that the beauty is failing and more grit and fight is needed, Ozil is becoming obsolete to the current needs of the team. The team needs a fighter, a clawing grabber who will cling to every ball and battle tooth and nail for possession.

Not someone wired to make a pretty pass.

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It’s like Ozil is this perfectly cut diamond but Arsenal is a starving village that just wants bread, meat and water. What good is that diamond when you don’t even have the basics? Sure, it’s fun to look at, but it doesn’t produce what you need and that isn’t going to change. Ever. The diamond knows what it is.

Until that village finds a way to feed itself and regain a higher standard of living, Ozil will continue to see his frustrations mount, as will the supporters. According to reports, he told the team doctor to “f*** off” and kicked in a door at White Hart Lane when he was told he had to take a drug test.

That’s pretty intense.

Maybe it’s the game that is changing around the Gunners or maybe our opponents just know too much about us because we’ve become predictable. Maybe we are one beautiful team-driven masterclass win away from getting back to a place where Ozil can be useful again. It’s hard to say because Arsene Wenger has tried so much out of sheer desperation to get this club back on track.

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One thing remains certain though, and that’s that this club, as it stands, does not need someone like Mesut Ozil. I long to get back to a world where we do, but significant changes are going to have to come first.